{"id":252842,"date":"2025-07-10T07:06:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T07:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/252842\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T07:06:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T07:06:18","slug":"the-risque-celebrity-poster-kate-middleton-had-in-her-bedroom-revealed-while-willsmania-was-in-full-swing-at-her-university-it-wasnt-prince-william-plastered-on-her-wall-despite-the-rumours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/252842\/","title":{"rendered":"The risqu\u00e9 celebrity poster Kate Middleton had in her bedroom revealed: While ‘Willsmania’ was in full swing at her university, it wasn’t Prince William plastered on her wall… despite the rumours"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 1990s, boyband mania had swept the country with groups like Westlife<\/a>, Backstreet Boys, Take That and Boyzone<\/a> filling pages of teen magazines with glossy pull-out posters.<\/p>\n

But there was another prince sweeping the nation with his\u00a0burgeoning good looks, beachy blonde hair and cheeky smile.<\/p>\n

The phenomenon was dubbed\u00a0Willsmania by the media, with magazines around the world such as Hello!, Celebrity Focus, People and YM featuring young Prince William on their covers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While William was studying at Eton,\u00a0Kate Middleton<\/a>, a boarder at Marlborough College, was rumoured to have posters of the prince\u00a0<\/a>on the walls of her dorm.<\/p>\n

Royal author Katie Nicholl wrote in her book, Kate: The Future Queen: ‘Kate didn’t have a serious boyfriend, though according to her dorm mate Jessica Hay, she harboured a crush on the teenage Prince William.’<\/p>\n

But, according to the now Princess of Wales, it was a very different teen idol who she pinned to the wall.<\/p>\n

William came to Marlborough for inter-school events, and may have bumped into Kate in the dining room, but she was not one of the girls who would gather to gawp at him.<\/p>\n

She denied reports which suggested she had his picture pinned to her dorm wall, but school friend Jessica Hay said she did have a crush on him.<\/p>\n

\"While <\/p>\n

While Prince William was studying at Eton, Kate Middleton (4th from left back row), a boarder at Marlborough College, was rumoured to have posters of the prince on the walls of her dorm<\/p>\n

\"William <\/p>\n

William – pictured in September 2000 – came to Marlborough for inter-school events, and may have bumped into Kate in the dining room, but she was not one of the girls who would gather to gawp at him<\/p>\n

\"Like <\/p>\n

Like the teen idols of the time, the young prince was sweeping the nation with his burgeoning good looks, beachy blonde hair and cheeky smile<\/p>\n

\u2018We would sit around talking about all the boys at school we fancied but Catherine would always say: \u201cI don\u2019t like any of them. They\u2019re all a bit of rough.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Then she would joke: \u201cThere\u2019s no one quite like William.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘She always said: \u201cI bet he\u2019s really kind. You can tell by just looking at him.\u201d’<\/p>\n

During Kate and William’s engagement interview in November 2010, journalist Tom Bradby said: \u201cThere\u2019s a story that goes around that you had a picture of him on your wall<\/a>.’<\/p>\n

William jokingly responded: ‘There wasn’t just one, there was about 20.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kate said: ‘He wishes! No. No, I had the Levi’s guy on my wall, not a picture of William.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Well, it was me in Levis, obviously!’ William said.<\/p>\n

The Levi’s poster Kate referred to was likely from the iconic 1985 Levi’s launderette advert featuring Nick Kamen, who famously stripped down to his underwear.<\/p>\n

\"Katie \"Nicholl <\/p>\n

Royal author Katie Nicholl wrote in her book, Kate: The Future Queen: ‘Kate didn’t have a serious boyfriend, though according to her dorm mate Jessica Hay, she harboured a crush on the teenage Prince William’<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: William wore a Union Jack vest emblazoned with the words ‘Groovy Baby,’ at Eton College to commemorate his 18th birthday<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Levi’s poster Kate referred to was likely from the iconic 1985 Levi’s launderette advert featuring Nick Kamen<\/p>\n

Nicholl wrote: ‘Kate was more interested in playing hockey than waiting at the goal line on the hockey field above Wedgewood, where some of the girls congregated to gawp at the prince.<\/p>\n

‘Others would gather outside Mill Mead, where the buses parked, so they could chase after the boys as they drove off. But not Kate.<\/p>\n

At the time, William was grieving the tragic loss of his mother,\u00a0Princess Diana<\/a>, and was not prepared for the screaming crowds and endless fan mail that came with his new teenage heartthrob status.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicholl wrote: ‘Kate had followed the story closely, deeply saddened by the princess’s death, which had prompted an outbreak of mass mourning around the world.’<\/p>\n

Royal author Tom Quinn wrote in his book Yes, Ma’am: ‘Being a young king in waiting is rather like being a pop star.<\/p>\n

‘The position, the glamour and money associated with it does strange things to people.’<\/p>\n

The craze went even further when, in 1999, Tatler magazine named 17-year-old William as the hottest date for 2000.<\/p>\n

He was top of Tatler’s ‘Little Black Book’s’ list of 200 men and women, with his ‘heartthrob looks and charming manners,’ the Mail reported at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kate <\/p>\n

Kate was much more interested in playing hockey then chasing the prince, according to Nicholl<\/p>\n

\"Kate <\/p>\n

Kate studied at Marlborough College Public School in Wiltshire for four years from 1996 to 2000<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The craze went even further when, in 1999, Tatler magazine named 17-year-old William as the hottest date for 2000<\/p>\n

Nicholl claimed that, despite popular reports that William and Kate first met at St Andrews<\/a>, the two were actually first acquainted while she was still at Marlborough.<\/p>\n

‘The summer of 1999, before she started upper sixth, was one of mixed emotions for Kate.<\/p>\n

‘Her friend Emilia d’Erlanger had introduced Kate to some of her out-of-school friends.<\/p>\n

‘The niece of the tenth Viscount Exmouth, Emilia was fantastically well-connected and part of William and Harry’s ‘Glosse Posse’.<\/p>\n

‘The Glosse Posse would meet on weekends and during holidays when they were invited to Club H, William and Harry’s den in the cellars of Highgrove.<\/p>\n

‘Being so close to Emilia, it was only a matter of time before Kate met William, and that summer they were introduced.<\/p>\n

‘Their very first encounter is not something Kate has ever spoken about.’<\/p>\n

\"Nicholl <\/p>\n

Nicholl claimed that, despite popular reports that William and Kate first met at St Andrews , the two were actually first acquainted while she was still at Marlborough<\/p>\n

\"It <\/p>\n

It seems Cupid’s quiver was set as William and Kate both ended up living in St Salvator’s halls of residence at St Andrew’s in September 2001<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The two sat together in the dining hall, bonding over their love of skiing and covering for each other when they had to miss a class<\/p>\n

William’s decision to attend the University of St Andrews, where he met Kate Middleton, significantly boosted applications and interest in the university.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

This Prince William effect resulted in a 44 per cent increase in the university’s applications compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n

The increase was particularly noticeable among young women, especially from the US.<\/p>\n

It seems Cupid’s quiver was set as William and Kate both ended up living in St Salvator’s halls of residence at St Andrew’s in September 2001.<\/p>\n

The two\u00a0sat together in the dining hall<\/a>,\u00a0bonding over their love of skiing and covering for each other when they had to miss a class.<\/p>\n

In 2002 William paid \u00a3200 for a table close to the catwalk where 20-year-old Kate was wearing a revealing sheer dress with a black bra and underwear for a charity fashion show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A romance blossomed, and after they moved into a shared house together in their second year, rumours surfaced that the flatmates were romantically linked.<\/p>\n

\"Kate <\/p>\n

Kate Middleton modelling on the catwalk at a student fashion show attended by Prince William in March 2002<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

In a spectacular moment of foreshadowing, the couple heard a speech at their graduation ceremony in 2005 by their principal, who described St Andrews in Fife as the country’s top matchmaking university<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He added: ‘You may have met your husband or wife.’<\/p>\n

The couple announced their engagement on November 16, 2010, before tying the knot in April 2011.<\/p>\n

Whether or not it was a poster of William that Kate hung in her boarding school dorm, the Princess of Wales proved that love finds its way to you when you’re not chasing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the 1990s, boyband mania had swept the country with groups like Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Take That and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7714,7713,92,533,2832,532,2831,7710,519,448,7711,7712],"class_list":{"0":"post-252842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-catherine","10":"tag-catherine-middleton","11":"tag-dailymail","12":"tag-kate-middleton","13":"tag-prince-of-wales","14":"tag-prince-william","15":"tag-princess-of-wales","16":"tag-royal-families","17":"tag-royal-family","18":"tag-royals","19":"tag-uk-royal-family","20":"tag-william"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114827676674329208","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}